Lampung lifters triumph in national championships

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Lampung finished atop the overall medal standings with 32 golds at the completion of the National Weightlifting and Powerlifting Championship on Thursday.

The province's lifters collected 14 golds in the weightlifting competition, which ended on Tuesday, and 18 golds in powerlifting.

Tied for second with 17 golds each were South Kalimantan and West Java.

West Java's Asep Setiawan grabbed the attention on the final day when he broke his national powerlifting records in squat, bench press and dead lift.

Competing in the 100-kg division, Asep lifted 345.5 kg, breaking his previous mark by half a kilogram.

In the bench press session, he upped the mark from 225 kg to 225.5 kg, while in dead lift, he heaved 303.5 kg to again break his old record by half a kilogram.

His total lift of 874.5 kg -- 1.5 kg more than his previous record -- was not recognized as a new national record because the rules state it must be at least 2.5 kg heavier to qualify in the total lift category.

"It was my target to break the national record and win golds here," Asep said." But we only miscalculated the total lift, so I only passed my old record but failed to set a new record in the total lift based on the regulations."

Asep, 26, hoped his strong performance at the nationals would lead the Indonesian Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association (PABBSI) to select him for the Asian championships and worlds to fulfill what he called his dream.

In the 90-kg division, Doni Putra of West Sumatra set a new national bench press mark of 200.5 kg, bettering the old mark of 200 kg set by Hadi of Central Java.

Overall, there were seven national records set in powerlifting at the nationals. At the 2004 National Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, several lifters were able to set new world records, although they were not recognized as such because the event is not part of the international calendar.

Lifters acknowledged that they faced various difficulties in preparing for the nationals.

Asep said he was only able to prepare after the end of the Ramadhan fasting month in November and his lifting was not optimal.

He said his best dead lift was 320 kg, far above his national mark.

Lampung lifter Sutrisno, who swept three golds at the World Powerlifting Championships in Miami in November, won three gold medals on Wednesday.

He admitted, however, that he was still tired from competing in the worlds in Florida.